Thursday, April 26, 2012

Review: Little Miss Bronte Jane Eyre and Little Master Carroll Alice in Wonderland

by: Jennifer Adams and Alison Oliver

Little Miss Bronte Jane Eyre - Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Little Master Carroll Alice in Wonderland - Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:
With the perennial popularity of classic writers like Charlotte Bronte and Lewis Carroll, Baby Lit is a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature. With clever, simple text by Jennifer Adams, paired with stylish design and illustrations by Sugar's Alison Oliver, Little Miss Bronte and Little Master Carroll are a must for every savvy parent's nursery library.

Prepare for the gush. Look at those covers, the entire books are like that. I love reading picture books with my boys, but you rarely find something that tickles your own personal style so much. Alice in Wonderland is a color primer, with the colorful characters and colors on every page. Though the blue catepillar is not really "blue" and the orange cat with the pink background is hard to see. But the pictures are so cute, and Ivan adores it. He even gets it, the 2 I thought would be difficult he nailed the first try.

Little Miss Bronte Jane Eyre has this baby-goth thing going on. I fell in love! I have got to give Bronte another chance. I have lumped her in with Jane Austen...perhaps that isn't fair. Jane Eyre is a counting primer. It has the number and then the item being counted. On the other side is a gorgeous picture. "1 GOVERNESS" AND "6 CHALKBOARDS" up to 10. The chalkboards have some lessons written on them. At 10 there are books numbered 1 through 10, Gulliver's Travels is the only title...I wonder if that classic was mentioned within Jane Eyre. I'd have to look up when each was written.

So, get these for your baby? They won't teach your kids to love the great classics, but they will be educational and eye catching just the same. Your little ones will enjoy them. Just ask Ivan, who is pulling me away from the computer as I type begging me to read them again, which I am now going to do!


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

In the Middle of Almost and Other Stories

by: S.B. Lerner

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Synopsis (from Goodreads)
An engrossing collection of funny, poignant and bittersweet stories about busy young women who find men in all the wrong places (the garage attendant across the street, the stay-at-home dad in the playground, the younger man at the diner counter) and discover something about themselves in the process.

The stories speak to the curiosities and actual experiences of many city dwellers...A cross between anonymity and 'what-ifs'.

The short stories and memoir were previously published in literary magazines and newspapers.


This is a VERY fast read. In fact, I would call it flash fiction rather than short stories.

I really enjoyed every story. They were romantic in nature, but not the happy ending kind. More the reality kind. Where that warm and fuzzy feeling either isn't there or it isn't enough. There was one story about a recently widowed mother. I recognized the lost feeling as she's sitting at the park she thinks:
Watching my four-year-old son isn't exactly work, but neither is it relaxation. It's like being a sentry in peacetime - it's important, but there's not much to do.
The book includes 5 short stories, an excerpt from a novel and 2 short memoirs. Both deal with her parents survival of the holocaust. Her father was so much older when she saw the pain it caused him. The following quote is from when the author, as an adult walks into her father's office and spots him, looking at photos from his youth back in Poland.
"Did anyone else survive?"
He kind of shrugged at first. "No...well, I was just looking at them..."

The book read very fast, but it was all really good. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys good chick lit, but can live without the "love conquers all" type themes. It really was refreshing.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Ruby Lioness Press Open Pitch Session


Post written by: Marissa Dobson

Ruby Lioness Press is having an open pitch session. We are mainly looking for short stories and novellas but are open to novel length pitches as well. Please submit your pitch using this form… https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHBZSnRBNTYtWVBtRlphVWFTOEd1V0E6MQ
If you have any questions you can contact Marissa Dobson, co-owner of Ruby Lioness Press at marissa@rubylionesspress.com
 About Ruby Lioness Press:
Ruby Lioness Press is a semi new publisher, but all of our staff has been in the business for years. We are here to help authors reach their goals. Our release schedule is growing rapidly; be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to be a part of the Ruby Lioness Press family. Our standard royalty percentage is 50% of the sale price of your e-book and 40% for print.
We have a multi-author series (which you can pitch for also, just please mention that in the post). For more information on the multi-author series, follow these links:
 

Monday, April 23, 2012

Book Spotlight: Miss Good Samaritan

**You must be 18 to read today's post**


Synopsis:
Robin Cavanaugh's ordinary Saturday goes awry when a wounded man leaps into her car at a traffic light and refuses to go to the hospital. Robin's first instinct is to take him to the nearest police station but when he tells her his name, she realizes he's a member of her church. He swears he's one of the good guys and Robin feels inclined to believe him. So she takes him home and tends his wounds.

When his condition worsens, she even uses his cell phone to contact what turns out to be his brother, the local medical doctor. Robin soon learns that Gray is no criminal but an undercover agent whose life may be in danger.

As their relationship develops and Gray heals, Robin becomes part of the action, too. When she gives him her heart and accepts his marriage proposal, Robin has no idea if he'll survive his last undercover operation or not.




About the Author:
Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy is a full-time romance author. A native of the old historic city of St. Joseph, Missouri, one time home to both Jesse James and the Pony Express, she now lives and writes in the beautiful Missouri Ozark region. Her romance novels include Wolfe’s Lady (December 2010 Evernight Publishing), Love Tattoo, (March 2011, Evernight), Love Scars (June 2011, Evernight), Love Never Fails (May 2011, Rebel Ink Press), Kinfolk (July 2011, Champagne Books), The Marriage Cure (Astraea Press, July 2011), Love Scars, July 2011 (Evernight Publishing). Love Tattoo, Love Scars, and Love Knots, Love Shadows are the first four books of the six book Love Covenant series. Other novels include Witness Protection Program (Rebel Ink Press, A Time To Love (Champagne Books. Sing We Now of Christmas (Rebel Ink Press, December 2011). 2012 is already kicking off with more novel releases including A Patient Heart, Miss Good Samaritan, Guy’s Angel, In Love’s Own Time, Heart of the Ozarks) In The Shadow of War, and a novella, Long Live The King (Champagne Books). Her work also appears in more than twenty anthologies and she has multiple short story/non-fiction credits.

She is a member of RWA, Missouri Writers Guild, EPIC, and the Ozarks Writers League.

Her work also appears in multiple anthologies. She earned a BA degree in both English and History from Missouri Southern State University as well as an AA Degree in Journalism from Crowder College. She worked in broadcast media for a decade and also has a background in education. Her weekly column “Hindsight” appears each week in the Neosho Daily News.

She is married to Roy W. Murphy and the couple has three children, Emily, Megan, and Patrick Murphy.

If Lee Ann – or Lee as many of her writing friends know her – isn’t writing, she’s reading or spending time outdoors.

In Neosho, Missouri, the small town she now calls home, she serves on the local library board, is active in the annual Relay For Life fight against cancer, has worked with the local Arts Council, and is active in her parish.




Book Excerpt:
“I want you,” Gray breathed into her ear. “Robin, will you come with me?”

Her heart leapt and she’d swear it wedged midway up her throat. Each beat resonated through her, her skin tingling with anticipation as she nodded and took the hand he offered. Gray led her back to the big front bedroom and he shut the door with infinite care. A full harvest moon shone through the thin curtains and a slight breeze with the chill of autumn came through the one window open just an inch or so. Robin shivered but not with cold as Gray came to her.

Facing her, he held her face between his hands and kissed her, his mouth soft and yet urgent against her mouth. His fingers undid the snap buttons on her flannel nightgown with slow precision and he pulled the garment from her. The gown dropped to the floor and he slid a single finger into the waistband of her cotton Hanes panties to lower them to her ankles. Robin stepped out of them, aroused and unafraid. She’d never been more certain about the sexual act as now. This wasn’t one of her college experiences when a little too much drink turned her head and blurred judgment or an aggressive date who pushed too far, too fast. For the first time in her life, Robin realized she was about to make love and the idea fired her imagination just as much as desire heated her blood to fever heat.

Gray removed his boxers and pulled her against him so they stood, skin to skin. The incredible sensation fascinated Robin and she adored the way his flesh rubbed against hers. Her breasts rested against his mat of chest hair and without conscious thought, she used her hands to run across the contours of his body. She trailed her hands from his shoulders down, delighting in the way his skin reacted to her touch. On Gray’s right side, she let her hand go down to his thigh but on the left, she skirted his healing wound but with sudden impulse, she bent to kiss it, her mouth lighter than a moth’s brush in the night.

Gray moaned aloud and she hesitated. “Did I hurt you?” she whispered.

“Feels damn good,” he said, “Touch me some more, honey.”

His command equaled her wish so Robin did. Her hands moved over him, marveling at his solid body, the rock hard muscles, the beautiful way his parts fit together into a whole. As she explored, so did he. Gray stroked her titties, his fingers slow and tantalizing. He bent his mouth to them and he suckled at first one nipple, then the other as an incredible erotic pleasure soared within Robin until she thought she’d die from the physical joy. Inspired and fired with the wildest passion she’d ever known, Robin put her mouth against the base of his throat and nibbled.

Her hand moved from his thigh to his crotch where she reached out to grasp the fullness of his cock in her hand. As she held it, she used her tongue to make laps around each of his nipples and then brought it down lower. Gray sighed and found her mouth. He pressed his against hers with urgency, with a rising need and his cock answered by growing in her hand. Robin savored the way it hardened against her flesh and she caressed it, moving her fingers up and down the shaft with slow movements.

His male musk, a wonderful scent intoxicating her senses, combined soap, lingering cologne, and just a man smell Robin adored. They continued touching and fingering each other’s bodies, handling every part they could reach until need built up within Robin until she knew she’d explode without an outlet. Gray must’ve felt the same because he whispered, “Now, Robin, now,” as he took her to his bed.

Robin scooted on her back until she rested her head on the pillows and opened her legs as Gray lowered himself onto her. She arched forward to meet his thrust, a single stroke entering her vaginal passage with speed tempered with gentleness. Robin cried out as he impacted and filled her, the sensation so glorious she couldn’t contain her delight and Gray hushed her with another kiss. He tongued her this time, his tongue twining with hers as he went deeper and rocked her.

Everything she coveted built to a crescendo and when it came, so did she. A mind blowing wild rush of intense pleasure claimed her, radiating out from her center to spread through her body. Her hands gripped him hard as she trembled with her release, her body pouring into his the way a flood stage river leaves the banks. Gray shuddered against her, convulsed with his own physical completion and in a hoarse whisper uttered the words she craved, “I love you, Robin.”

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